b THE UTILITY OF FORESTS. 



that any gain thus obtained is not neutraHsed by a deficiency in 

 the final returns, or even more than neutraHsed. To make the 

 thinnings of the right strength and at the right time is the best 

 proof of the forester's skill. 



The yield in wood is generally divided into timber and firewood, 

 or fuel. Formerly the production of firewood was of great 

 importance, and is still so in countries deficient in coal or other 

 substitutes and in means of transport. In the more favoured 

 countries the object now is to encourage the greatest possible 

 production of timber, firewood being of small value compared with 

 that of timber. Whether, and to what extent, the demand for 

 wood fuel may increase again in the future, when its substitutes 

 begin to diminish, it is impossible to predict. Under any circum- 

 stances, the production of timber is always accompanied by that 

 of a certain amount of firewood. 



The proportion between timber and firewood depends on 

 species, rotation and market conditions. The greatest possible 

 outturn of the former has a great influence on the financial success 

 of forestry. In the case of conifers, the percentage of timber can 

 be brought up to 90 per cent., but broad-leaved species rarely 

 give more than 50 per cent. With advancing age, the percentage 

 of timber increases as a rule. Good means of transport make it 

 profitable to export classes of timber which would, in their 

 absence, be converted into fuel. The same holds good as regards 

 the distance between the forest and the market. The conditions 

 of trade and of industrial development generally also influence the 

 percentage of the lower classes of timber which can be disposed of. 

 The more flourishing they are, the higher is that percentage. 

 Generally speaking, the cultivation of species which naturally 

 give a high percentage of timber has for some time been 

 favoured, while that of other species has been reduced ; this, and 

 their rapidity of growth, explains the extended cultivation of 

 conifers. 



The great increase in the percentage of timber is further due to 

 the fact that new industries have sprung up using wood which 

 formerly was used as fuel, such as the manufacture of wood pulp 

 for paper. Beech, formerly the staple firewood, is now used for 

 furniture, floors, packing cases, pavements, heels of ladies' boots 

 and railway sleepers. 



